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Top 5 States With the Most and Least Nurse Practitioners – 5/15/2013

Although the United States is still covering from the recession that hit just a few years back, careers in nursing have exploded across every field in medicine. You may be wondering at this point why there’s such a shortage in nursing jobs if they’re so in demand. The answer is a complex one. According to Health Leaders Media, nurses are working beyond the age of retirement
due to their partner losing their career in the recession and there are more nursing graduates than there are positions available for them. With that being said, there is still hope for recent graduates wanting to pursue a career in nursing. If you’re a registered nurse practitioner, there are five states where you will have more opportunity and five states you should not waste your time applying in.

Why Opportunities Differ by Location

Nursing is a competitive field. Pay differs not only on the location of the job, but also the facility type, experience, certification and license obtained. If you are a highly qualified nurse with years of experience, you’ll have a better chance at obtaining a top-dollar salary than a nurse right out of school. It seems that the pay is more competitive in states that contain medical schools and schools for nursing and much lower in states without medical schools and limited medical facilities. The cost of living is almost always factored into the salary potential for health care staff as well. In areas where the rent is higher, so is the pay for registered nurses (in most cases).

Best Work Opportunities

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median pay for a registered nurse is $64,000 per year or roughly $31 per hour. However, this median is just the general National average. Each state has its own median and so does each region. The highest paid regions are the West with $97,567 as a median and the Southwest with a median pay of $97,567. Although these regions pay the most, they aren’t necessarily flooding over with nursing jobs. The best places to look are in the places that aren’t inundated with nursing jobs. Here is a list of five states with the least nurse practitioners followed by five states with the most.